The Ring
by Gambit's Belle Rogue
Summary: [Oneshot] Rogue sits and ponders about a gift a certain Cajun gave her before everything went to hell... Does he remember it too? [ROMY]


Title: The Ring

Author: Gambit's Belle Rogue

Rating: PG, for mild alcohol use

Fandom: X-Men (comics)

Genre(s): Angst, Romance

Pairing(s): Gambit/Rogue (ROMY)

Spoiler(s): The Blood of Apoclypse Arc

Summary: Rogue takes a moment to reflect on a gift a certain Cajun gave her. Does he remember it too?

Author's Notes: Wow, another one? Gee, and here I thought I always went against the trend. Anyway, yes, I just had the sudden impulse to write this. Now, I know Rogue doesn't have anything like the gift described that we know of, but I just couldn't get the image of her with it out of my head, so I decided to go with it and write about it. Reviews are welcomed. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men comics. Now, get off my back.

**The Ring**

––New York, USA.––

Rogue sat out on the balcony, looking up at the brightly lit night sky with a small frown on her flawless face.

Truth be told, the Mississippian mutant had never looked better. Her auburn and white-striped hair was combed to a shine and left down in soft waves; her skin was lightly tanned and smooth and blemish-free; her fingernails and toenails were painted a nice shade of emerald green, matching the stretch tank top she was wearing with her black bohemian-styled skirt.

However, she couldn't be more unhappy.

Three weeks... Three weeks had gone by since the love of her life actually left her life.

Though she didn't cry her eyes out anymore, the pain still ate away at her heart. It seemed the longer Remy had been gone, the more lifeless Rogue had become. When Bobby would pull off pranks or told jokes, she didn't laugh. When Mystique would cross her path and repeatedly order her to marry Gus, she didn't yell at her. When Wolverine would light up a cigar at the kitchen table, she didn't lecture him about his health. She was dead to the outside world. Only if there was a mission did she become alive, and then, she was so filled with rage that no body in the mansion could hardly believe she was the woman a few months ago that was so full of actual life.

Now, she was sitting outside, taking sips out of a bottle of bourbon she had found in Remy's secret stash, looking up at the stars. Her free hand was fiddling with something in her lap as her blinked her eyes, forcing the salty tears that were yearning to form away. She let out a deep sigh and looked down as she picked up the tiny object, holding it in her hands.

A ring.

She was holding a gold ring that had a small ruby carved into a heart with a emerald cut the same shape right beside it. It wasn't an engagement ring, he told her so when he gave it to her.

"_Chere, I've hurt you too much t' ask f'r you t' marry me..." he had said, looking down at her as she held the ring in her hands, inspecting it._

"_Den, what is it?" she asked, looking up at him with a dry yet curious expression on her face. She was still angry at him, though she was a little bit happy in the fact he hadn't proposed as a means to just get back on her good side._

"_Dis be my apology t' you... T' let you know dat no matter what, you'll always be the only woman f'r dis old thief."_

_For a moment, Rogue stared at him silently before bringing her gaze down to the ring and back up to him again. After what seemed like forever and a day to the worried Cajun, she smirked faintly and slipped the ring onto her finger. Remy smiled in relief, and the two shared a much needed embrace._

"_Anna...I'm sorry... I really am, Anna..." he murmured into her hair as he held onto her tightly._

_Though the anger over his betrayal about hiding Mystique's charade as FOXX was still there, it faded greatly. She looked up at him with her brilliant green eyes and smiled faintly. "Sugah, it's okay..." she whispered._

_Another smile of relief crossed his lips as he gently caressed her cheek with a gloved hand. "Merci, mon cherie," he responded._

_Her smile grew slightly as she stared into his red-on-black eyes. "Love meh f'rever, Swamp Rat?" she asked._

"_Always, Chere," he answered._

The tears had stung her eyes and were slowly beginning to fall down her cheeks, snapping Rogue back to the present. She swore under her breath, clenching the ring in her hand tightly, feeling the sharp metal and gems begin to dig into her skin, and gulped down some more bourbon. Soft gasps escaped her lips as she slowly tried to calm herself down.

Glancing up towards the stars once more, her bottom lip began to tremble as more tears fell. "Love meh f'rever, Swamp Rat?..." she whispered softly into the night sky.

––Somewhere in Eastern Asia––

Sitting on top of a roof, the being known as Death stared out onto the horizon, watching the sun begin to rise.

Something inside of him stirred, and he couldn't help but give into the sudden impulse to raise his red-on-black eyes to the sky as a soft breeze started up, blowing his long, white hair.

"Always, Chere..." he whispered to the wind.

**THE END**


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